About a year ago I took the CRM 2011 application exam (MB2-868) and passed it, but somehow it never got registered properly and I did not save the score report so I could not prove this, so today I retook it.

It is a very interesting certification. One of the hardest things is to Think about which update rollup (UR) it is written towards. I have Heard that many people have said that all certifications (for CRM anyway) should be written based on the RTM (Release to Market) version (=UR 0) but that also seems a bit strange as there have been some significant Changes made in UR6 (like multi series charts) and especially in UR12.

The sad thing is that there is no clear indication in the certification which version it is based on, so you do not know. I also do not know which questions I did not answer correctly, I only know that I got 90% correct which is rather funny considering I have held all the four application courses and also written my own MB2-868 Certification prep course of which more than 60% of all the attendees passed.

My recommendations to you are the following:
– Study explicitly for the application exam. Just working in the application is not enough.
– Try to learn the language used, find key Word like “all”, “should”, “never”. There are practice exam questions in the course material.
– Base the answers on RTM. I know how irrational this might be for you as you are not used to seeing CRM this way, but focus on passing the exam.
– Don’t be discouraged if you fail the first time. Most people fail the first time, especially the CRM 2011 Application exam as that is quite weird.
– Try to work a bit with all the parts of CRM. Try to use also the parts that often are never or seldom used like service contracts, facility management, complex service scheduling, Product catalog. Most people are quite used to the account, Contact, opportunity, lead, case part of CRM but there are surprisingly few questions about that. You will get a better understanding of what the parts are and how they are connected.

My recommendations to Microsoft:
– Make it clear which version the exam is for. RTM or URx. Just to be clear.
– Remove questions from the exam that are incorrect due to new features. It is extremely confusing.
– If someone leaves comments that are constructive after an exam, as I have done, also leaving my email address, I have not felt that there has been any response to that at all. If you have the ability to leave comments, do make sure that these are responded to, otherwise the function should be switched off.
– Peripherial features are a bit important, but the main processes are essential and these should be more prominent in the exam.

For all of those Writing the exam, I wish you the best of luck!

Today I also noticed that on Rockstar 365, I got the badge “#1 in the World”. That was a great honor!
http://rockstar365.com/crmgustaf

If you work with CRM, register and I bet you’ll beat me soon. Game on!

Gustaf Westerlund
MVP, CEO and owner at CRM-konsulterna AB
www.crmkonsulterna.se